RESIDENTS against a town centre pub's plans to stay open longer are being encouraged to have their say at a meeting with police and the licensee.

People living near JWs in Castle Street, Northwich, raised concerns about the pub's application to open from Sunday-Thursday until midnight and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

In August, we reported how elderly residents at Town-bridge Court on Castle Street claimed they would suffer from 'horrendous' noise from nightlife and were opposing various applications for extended pub opening hours in the town centre.

Friends of residents said they were unhappy about the prospect of noisy drinkers leaving pubs late at night, and that it could encourage drunken behaviour.

They claimed crime and disorder problems are linked to the pub and fear the problems could escalate if the hours are extended. One said: 'The noise on a weekend is quite horrendous. Elderly residents should not have to suffer in their homes and have to pay for cleaning through their rates.'

Pub owner John Bates dismissed the claims and said an extension of opening hours would discourage binge drinking, and now the application has been approved a meeting has been arranged to sort out the problems.

Sgt Alison Wheeler, who called the meeting, said: 'Crime and disorder has been attributed wrongly to pubs in Northwich and we need to get everyone around the table to talk about the facts.

'We can then see what the real issues are and look at ways, agreeable to everyone, to resolve them.'

Mr Bates said: 'We don't want problems of crime and disorder any more than residents. We go to great lengths to make sure our customers are well-behaved.'